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spearheaded the push to eliminate electronic distractions from the
OR, even though "initially if you say no electronic devices in 2014,
you get the same response you'd get from a room full of adolescent
girls — 'I need the phone.'
"We have educated the staff that this is not proper behavior, that
somebody's going to tell you to put the device away during the pause,"
he says. "It is our policy."
A no-electronic-devices policy both makes sense and is easy to
delineate, but what about attitudes and behaviors that venture into
gray areas?
"You coach people and give them feedback," says Dr. Ring, "and
maybe tell them stories like mine that show why these things are so
important. Look for what's called 'drift,' where people get used to
doing things a certain way — a cursory pre-op huddle or a cursory
time out. Provide real-life examples and feedback. Maybe review all
the safety events every month or every quarter and show people how
many good catches there are, how many things go wrong that could
be preventable. Show people there's no way to avoid mistakes, but
there is a way to catch them before they do harm."
And don't kowtow to surgeons who think they're immune.
"This is a major medical legal issue," says Dr. Papadakos. "You want
to be friendly to Dr. Jones if he's bringing his cases to your institution,
but it doesn't matter how many cases he brings if the facility is being
sued into nonexistence for allowing this behavior." OSM
E-mail
jb urg er@outpa tientsurg ery.net
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